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Gillard urges other states to sign on to Gonski package

TONY EASTLEY: When the New South Wales Premier and the Prime Minister announced yesterday they'd agreed on a funding deal to implement the Gonski education reforms there was a lot back slapping and bonhomie - but there was a gnashing of teeth from another sector.

Under the agreement, school funding in New South Sales will be boosted by $5 billion, which includes a $1.7 billion contribution by that state.

The New South Sales Premier Barry O'Farrell says his state's money will come from deferring business tax cuts and increasing TAFE fees. The TAFE sector is outraged it's been targeted, saying it's copped successive cuts over the years.

The Prime Minister has flown to Rockhampton in Queensland this morning, where she'll make a multi-billion dollar funding promise to fix the Bruce Highway.

SABRA LANE: With New South Sales signed up for Gonski, how realistic is it that all other states and territories will agree by the June 30 deadline?

JULIA GILLARD: Well Sabra, in part you're going to have to put that question to other premiers and chief ministers. But I certainly think that as a result of the announcement I made with Premier O'Farrell today, people around the country will be looking to their premiers and chief ministers to also do the right thing by the children in their schools.

Premier O'Farrell has shown that it can be done. And I want to make sure that these benefits flow right around the country; that we're not leaving any child behind; and that every school is getting the resources it needs and improvement so that we get better outcomes for our kids.

SABRA LANE: To be realistic though, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have said that they cannot agree, and Barry O'Farrell says they're pretty vehement.

JULIA GILLARD: Well Premier Barnett has said that he's still in the conversation, so that's good. The Northern Territory, I'm certainly prepared to keep working with the new Chief Minister there.

SABRA LANE: Did you give New South Sales a concession here - that the state's contribution to indexation of 3 per cent will apply from 2016 and not 2014 as originally planned?

JULIA GILLARD: This is the deal that was on the table on Friday. We understood that there were fiscal constraints, money constraints; that it's not easy in tight state government budgets to find more funding for schools.

It's not easy for us either in the Federal Budget because we take a very prudent approach to spending. And when we spend more we look for savings to match that spending, and some of the savings to match this new spending on schools in the Federal Budget have been controversial and we've been prepared to wear all of that to get more money into our kids' schools.

So we knew that there were some spending constraints around, and we said we wanted to see 3 per cent indexation. We were prepared to agree that that start in two years' time, two school years' time.

SABRA LANE: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman is said to be writing you in weeks with conditions that will be, quote, "reasonable and sensible". Will you do a deal, a conditional deal for Queensland?

JULIA GILLARD: Well I'll wait to see what Premier Newman writes. But let's be very frank here, Sabra. A conservative premier has found what is on the table acceptable for the children in his schools - not only on the side of the money, the additional investment, but also on the new ways of working to improve our children's education.

So Premier O'Farrell has been able to endorse better empowering school principals; making sure that the best teachers are paid for staying in the classroom; endorsed the spread of Asian languages; endorsed parents having more of a role in the running of their schools; endorsed a plan which means that if schools are falling behind and we know that they can do better because comparable schools are, then action is taken...

SABRA LANE: So the deal…

JULIA GILLARD: All of these reform initiatives were endorsed yesterday explicitly by Premier O'Farrell under the National Plan for School Improvement we put on the table.

So, you know, much of the kind of collateral chat that there's been around - that this is somehow a Federal Government takeover of schools - all that has fallen away now. Clearly that cannot be the case. That collateral chat is all wrong. Otherwise Premier O'Farrell wouldn't have signed.

SABRA LANE: But the Gonski reforms do involve a big cost to other education sectors in the community. You are reducing university funding, and New South Sales is jacking up TAFE and vocational educational fees. It's a very confusing message about education isn't it?

JULIA GILLARD: Well the budget decisions that Premier O'Farrell has made are matters for him and you should direct questions on that to him.

For the Federal Budget, where it's my responsibility and I'm happy to be held to account for it, I have made the decision that in circumstances where we've increased university funding by more than 50 per cent - where we are not talking about a real cut in terms of less dollars flowing but a moderation of the growth rate of funds into universities - that it's an appropriate decision to moderate that growth rate, slow that growth rate and use the savings to get our children better schools.

SABRA LANE: Still... still on the substance of the question though, that is a very confusing message to send about education.

JULIA GILLARD: Well I think it's a very straightforward message. We've got to be a government that budgets responsibly. That means in the times in which we live, new spending has to be matched by savings. I was very clear about that when I spoke at the Press Club last year about school reform. I talked about new structural spending being matched by new structural savings. And what we've done is taken the hard decisions to free up money to improve our education for kids in school.

SABRA LANE: Well the National Disability Insurance Scheme is something else that you're trying to figure out how to pay for. Some figures, senior figures within the Government, believe an increase ion the Medicare levy is the only way to pay for it. Is that under consideration?

JULIA GILLARD: Look Sabra, we're in budget speculation season, and I know what happens in budget speculation season - you start taking the first few questions on budget speculation, and then it just goes on and on and on. So I'm not engaging in any speculation about anything…

SABRA LANE: I'm guaranteeing that it won't go on and on. Is that under consideration?

JULIA GILLARD: … No, no, Sabra, I'm simply not playing the game.

SABRA LANE: You're in Rockhampton today to announce a billion dollar or multi-billion dollar plan to fix the Bruce Highway in the future. How can Australians believe a campaign built on promises for the future when past promises on the surplus, border protection and the mining tax have fallen well short?

JULIA GILLARD: Well Sabra, let's go through it. We've made promises on road funding in the future and delivered them. I'll go out today in Rockhampton and inspect some works that are being funded here which we promised and which we delivered. We are promising today to invest a further $4 billion in the Bruce Highway. We've invested here before. People have seen the benefits of those works and they will see the benefits of this new $4 billion investment which makes such a difference to a range of Queensland communities that rely on the Bruce Highway.

On things like the MRRT, yes, profits-based tax, absolutely, and so it was always going to move up and down depending on the profitability of the resources sector.

On border protection we accepted expert advice. We can't implement all of it because Mr Abbott, with his usual negativity, is standing in the way.

On the budget surplus, well, revenue has been less than was forecast and predicted. That is the circumstance we're in. We've got the overhang of the global financial crisis. We've got a strong Australian dollar bearing down on some sections of business. That means that there's less tax money coming in to the Federal Government than was expected. We've got to deal with the facts. We live in the real world.

SABRA LANE: I'd like to ask you about an asylum seeker, an Egyptian national who's in detention and has been red-flagged by Interpol for terrorism activities. Originally he was in community detention. What's this man alleged to have done, and again, doesn't this indicate that this issue is an issue of national security?

JULIA GILLARD: I'm not in a position to go through circumstances for individual asylum seekers. That wouldn't be proper and wouldn't be right and I'm not intending to do so.

SABRA LANE: France overnight has agreed to legalise gay marriage. It comes a week after New Zealanders agreed to do this too. Is there any chance that you will change your own position on this before September?

JULIA GILLARD: I've, you know, made my position clear to the Australian community. But the important thing is I've said that I'm not seeking to impose my views on anybody - anybody in the Australian community or anybody in Parliament or anybody in my political party - that people should come to the Parliament free to exercise their own conscience and their own views.

What we need to see is that everyone who comes to the Australian Parliament is in that same position, and unfortunately members of the Liberal and National party are not. They have not been extended a conscience vote. They have not been able to vote how they would choose on this matter.

I think the next step here that needs to be taken is that everyone is able to come to the Parliament and vote in accordance with their beliefs.

SABRA LANE: Prime Minister, with respect, I'm asking you about your own personal view. Is there any chance you will change your personal view?

SABRA LANE: We're three weeks from the budget. Business fears that you're going to hit them to pay for your promises. A survey out this morning shows that only 8 per cent of company directors think your Government actually understands business. That's less than one in 10. Are their fears founded?

JULIA GILLARD: Well my reading of today's newspapers Sabra is that the fear that business is very focused on today is the fear of Mr Abbott's plan to finance his paid parental leave scheme by putting up company tax, and the fear of the disruption that would come to the Australian economy should Mr Abbott be in a position to implement his so-called "direct action plan", which of course anybody with expertise in the area of carbon pollution and security in markets is scoffing at.

So I understand there are big concerns for businesses on those sorts of moves by Mr Abbott, and they're questions for him.

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